Actor Sanjana Sanghi’s Bollywood journey as a lead actor kicked off in 2020 with Dil Bechara, which ranked among the most-watched films on OTT. And now, she’s already shooting for her second, Om, an action thriller, alongside Aditya Roy Kapur.

She feels it’s been ‘wonderful’ so far. “Since Rockstar (2011) when I was a child actor, we are audition actors. Be it just an ad or a small part in a film, you would get an audition call. You would then try and give your best in that room. When it wouldn’t work out, you won’t get a call back. Coming from there, to people seeing my work in Dil Bechara…the filmmaker I dreamt of collaborating with, saying they desire to work with me has been amazing. It’s been special,” says the 24-year-old.

Making the right choices, she adds, is tough. Which is why she was careful about which project she took up as her second film. It was Om’s director Ahmed Khan who called her up after watching Dil Bechara. “I found the journey of this one very exciting, because you are in a place where you are able to choose the genre. What was really at the back of my mind is that it has to be different from my first film, and it will really push me as an actor. The fans who are generous with their love, it was great for them too. I was kind of taking my time to lock in my second film. I got a call from Ahmed sir, who told me he’s making this massive action thriller with Adi. He said even though Kizzie Basu is very far from a female action lead, he felt he saw something,” Sanghi says with a laugh.

After she came on board the film, the team started shooting right amid the Coronavirus pandemic, in October 2020. And Sanghi admits that she did feel ‘really scared’ while shooting. “It (the pandemic) was peaking at that time, but what we realised two months down into filming, is that once the bubble got created and we got used to precautions, they became a part of our day. As actors, you are the only ones not wearing masks, so that paranoia sticks. After a couple of days, you tend to forget that, you just feel lucky that even in the midst of everything you are able to work and get such a huge film going,” she adds.